The Role
by datawolf39
Summary: Kyoko is offered a chance to act with Ren again and she takes it. The results are not what the director expected. Warnings inside in the A/n. T for safety.
1. Memories Awakened

**A/n** **This is a weird story. Ren and Kyoko will be OOC. I just had to write this and I wanted to put it up since it's finished. There will be about three chapters and they are already written. I will probably upload them today and tomorrow just so that I can edit the last bit of the story.**

* * *

 **Memories Awakened**

Kyoko quickly made her way down the street making sure that she kept an eye on her surroundings. Due to her role in Dark Moon, and more recently, her role as Natsu in Box-R, she had started being recognized by the public. She wasn't anywhere near the fame level of Ren, but the more people that recognized her, the harder it would be to walk around the city by herself.

There didn't seem to be any unsavory characters about so she let kept walking toward her destination. She was going to see Ren in one of his new roles. He had invited her to watch and she had promised to watch after she was done with school for the day.

Part of her was thrilled that she would get to witness Ren acting again, but another part of her was worried. Already that man had broken the locks on her love box and seeing him act would do nothing, but make her love him more than she already did. Either way she had promised to go and see him and she would not go back on her word.

Several minutes later she arrived at the building that was being used for the shoot. Yashiro was standing there waiting for her.

"Good afternoon Yashiro-san," Kyoko greeted him polite as always.

"Good afternoon Mogami-san," Yashiro replied. "Follow me and try to be as quiet as you can. They just started a scene a few minutes ago."

Together both of them walked into the building. The scene was still ongoing. Kyoko looked on, mesmerized at the acting before her. In this drama Ren was a serious detective. The way that he held himself told Kyoko that this was the type of man that allowed nothing to stop him from doing his job.

"Narukami Saito-san," said another actor said as he approached Ren.

"Seta-san?'"

The man hesitated for a moment before pulling a weapon and shooting it.

Saito caught the other man's intent a moment too late to dodge, but he managed to move in time so that the bullet was not fatal. Not taking a moment to think, Saito dove at the other man causing gun to fly across the floor. The two men fought and man called Seta managed to get his hands on the gun again.

It went off again and blood stained the floor. For a moment it was impossible to tell who had perished and then Sai stood up. The man could only look on in horror as the crimson stain spread out on the floor. A blankness started to appear in his eyes.

"CUT," the director said.

Ren offered his hand to the other actor lifted him from the pool of fake blood. The other actor accepted his hand gratefully.

Ren stepped on the stage and smiled in thanks at the congratulations that he was receiving. Inside he was breathing a sigh of relief. The blank reaction had not been something that he had planned, although, it did work for the character, since Saito was not one to show a lot of emotion no matter the circumstance. If the director hadn't cut the scene when he had, Ren might have fallen into a full flashback.

Suddenly, a pair of golden eyes connected with his eyes. Of course she was here. His smile became more genuine as he made his way over to his manager and the girl that he loved.

Yashiro complimented his work. Then he walked away under the pretense of asking some question to someone.

Kyoko looked over Ren's face with a critical eye. She was stunned when his expression became sheepish after a few moments. "Are you okay?" She asked softly.

Ren didn't want to lie to her, but he couldn't very well tell her just how close he had come to shutting down when the pool of fake blood began to expand, especially not here. He took a breath and gave her a small smile. "Can we talk later?" he asked side-stepping the question.

Kyoko nodded and watched as Ren went back to the set to shoot the next scene. This one consisting of his character being rushed to the hospital.

An hour later the shoot was wrapped and Kyoko was riding in Ren's car. Yashiro had been dropped off already and it was just the two of them. They had arrived at Ren's apartment at 9:30 and Kyoko made some dinner for both of them.

The silence was starting to unnerve Kyoko so she decided that she would have to be the one to start a conversation. "I was worried today," she admitted.

Ren looked at her with surprise evident on his features.

Kyoko looked down. She couldn't look at him and speak. If she did he would know how she felt and then he would hate her forever. "You looked like you did in that car and I was scared..."

Ren wanted to hit himself for worrying Kyoko. He knew that he should have spoken first, but he hadn't known what say or how to explain what had made him act the way that he had. He couldn't tell her the truth, but he also couldn't lie and that impossible situation had left him tongue-tied.

"I'm sorry for worrying you," Ren apologized. "Being in that situation...reminded me of something that I try not to think about." he admitted in a voice that was hardly above a whisper.

Kyoko was silent for a moment and then she hopped up. Ren feared that he had said something wrong until he saw that she was just going to her bag, the green and white one, that she had lain on the floor beside the door when they had arrived. She quickly found what she was looking for in her bag and went back over to Ren.

"Do you remember this?" She asked showing him the stone.

Ren nodded.

Kyoko placed the stone in his hand and closed his fingers around it. "It takes away sadness," she said.

Ren closed his eyes and squeezed the stone. He felt the edges press into his palm. He also felt the warmth from Kyoko's hand that was still on his hand. When he opened his eyes again he was startled to find that he felt a little bit better.

"Thank you Mogami-san." Ren said with a soft smile on his face.

Kyoko blushed and moved away with flustered and flurried movements.

Ren smiled brighter than before and he couldn't contain his laughter when his smile only made her blush more than she already was.

"Tsuruga-san... you're... you're such a bully!"

That did nothing, but make him laugh harder than before.

Something about seeing Ren look carefree caused Kyoko to laugh as well. This was not something that she thought would happen, but it was infinitely better than the melancholy that had gripped him before. The only thing worse than that would have been seeing that horrifying gentlemanly smile.

Once they were able to calm down, they shared the task of washing the dishes they had used. Then Ren offered to drive Kyoko home and invited her back to the set for the next shoot if she was interested in watching the story unfold. She accepted both offers and allowed herself to hope that there might be a chance that love was not the curse that she thought it was.


	2. Involved

**Massive amount of OOCness ahead. This was the part that appeared in my head and started this story. Really small tame instances of dom/sub relations and age-play. You have been forewarned. One chapter left after this.**

* * *

 **Involved**

Kyoko arrived at the set in time to watch the ending of the scene between Ren's character and a therapist. It was department policy that after a traumatizing event a therapist assessed the affected individual and decided if they were ready to return to work.

"This is our third session," The woman said.

Saito nodded.

"This can't work if you are not willing to speak to me." She sighed.

"There is nothing to speak about. A man died and I am alive."

The woman sighed. "I can't sign off on your return form."

"But I am fine," Saito growled.

"There is one other option. I know a specialist that the department allows me to bring in on difficult cases. As long as assess the individual after their sessions with her, and I agree with her findings, I am able to sign off on the return form."

Saito nodded. He knew that he would never confide in this department assigned therapist, but he could not lose his job. It was the only thing that kept him whole. So he would go to this specialist and hope that she was effective.

The therapist made the call.

"Alright that's a wrap for today," the director called out. There was a lot of startled looks that were aimed his way and the man sigh. "The actress that was to play the specialist has backed out so we have to recast the role." the director explain.

Kyoko couldn't help feeling upset. She was enjoying the story and now there was this kind of delay. She had looked forward to the specialist's scenes the most because it was going to be improvisational. The scene was to be overlapped with music so the actual words would be cut out in the final product. The shoot would be several takes of footage because there needed to be enough to be manipulated to look as though there had been several meetings between the characters.

Suddenly she felt eyes on her. She was sure that she hadn't done anything to attract attention. She looked around to see who was watching her and she was startled to find that it was the director. He was walking over to her in a way that made he feel like prey.

"Director-san," she said with a bow.

"I thought that I recognized you Kyouko-san. I understand that you were invited to watch as a guest, but I would like to ask if you might do me a favor. As you heard the actress that we had hired for the part of the specialist has left the role vacant. Could I trouble you to take on this role?"

For a moment she didn't know how to respond, but then she remember who she would be acting with and there was no other answer."I... I would be honored." Kyoko responded.

The director breathed a sigh of relief. He had seen this girl act and he knew that she could deliver a performance that would be acceptable. It would save him time and money as well. "There are no specific lines and you may wear anything that fits you in the wardrobe. All we need to see is you and Tsuruga-san interacting. More instructions will be given later if needed."

Kyoko was dressed in a pair of blue denim jeans and a black tank top. She had on black heels and her hair had been swept back reminiscent of Natsu's style. The set was a office like space with two couches and a desk. There was also a closet that held clothing. She was sure why that was, but she built it into the character. Her name was Kazumari Nanako, she enjoyed her work so much that her office space doubled as a second home. She helped people that others couldn't because she understood what people needed even when they themselves did not.

She stood from her desk chair and gracefully walked over to the bookcase. Picking a book she sat on the couch and opened it as she awaited her next appointment.

The director sat there somewhat stunned. Gone was the proper young lady and in her place was a sophisticated woman. He found himself eager to see where this performance would lead and was suddenly happy that the script had been so open about this character.

There was a knock at the door and Nanako stood. She placed the book on the desk and went over to open the door. Standing there was a man and she could see why he had been sent to her. He was so closed off that he probably had no idea how to open up to another person.

"Have a seat," Nanako said sitting herself. Predictably the male took the seat on the other couch furthest from her.

"What did Emiko-san tell you about how I work?" Nanako asked.

"She only said that the sessions were 45 minutes long and that nearly everyone she sent to you was cleared for duty after three sessions."

"Very good, first we start with a safe word. I don't want to push you further than you can go so we will designate a word you can say to indicate that the conversation is too much."

"My name will do well for that. 'Saito' is my safe word."

"Very well," Nanako said getting up to go to her closet. She turned on the light and closed the door. When she emerged she was wearing an all leather outfit. The clothing was skin tight and looked like it could be a one piece outfit.

"Do not speak unless it is to say your safe word. Get on your hands and knees and crawl to the other couch."

"W-"

"Unless you are using your safe word you are not to speak." Nanako said again sitting on the couch she had left to change clothing.

Saito didn't know what to make of this, but it was better than her trying to get him to open up and talk. Also, she was his last hope if he wanted to keep his job.

He got down on the floor and crawled. It was humiliating and he could feel his face heating as he moved. He kept his head down hopping the woman would not notice. When he reached the couch he felt a hand running through his hair and despite himself he looked up. She was smiling at him.

"That's my good boy." she cooed. "Let me take control. There is nothing for you to be worried about because I am in control here."

Only the fact that his job depended on this woman kept him from snapping at her.

"None of that now, pet." She reprimanded as though she had read his thoughts.

Nanako let him relax for a moment before speaking again. She looked directly into his eyes when she spoke."Now you were sent to me for a reason. I have no idea what happened to you. I just want you to think about it. Don't say anything. Let yourself feel the emotions that come with the memories, but look at me while you do. Let me share this pain you feel."

He didn't want to think of it. He didn't want to feel the pain, He didn't want to remember that he had allowed Seta's six-year-old daughter die. The pain went deeper than the character at the remembrance of the pool of blood. Suddenly he was Kuon again watching Rick die. He felt the tears start to leak from his eyes. He struggled to contain sobs and he tried to look away. But she wouldn't let him. Her hand was calmly stroking his hair and her eyes remained locked with his. There was no accusation there. There was nothing, but gentleness and acceptance. As he allowed the weight of emotion to crush him, she stayed there steady as a rock, something for him to hold on to. He let her take control, in this safe space he could be a person of emotion.

"Stay," she ordered softly, then she went and got a soft towel. She wiped his face, gently dabbing away the tears. "Now whenever you are ready, I want you to say your word. When you do you are free to leave or stay. You make the choice. Nod if you understand."

He nodded. After several breaths he said, "Saito."

Nanako removed her hands from his hair and left his field of vision. Saito stood and brushed down his suit. Then he sat back on the couch.

Nanako had put on a tan trench coat and sat next to him. "How do you feel?"

"A little weightless," he admitted.

Nanako smiled. "Whenever the emotions get to weigh to much, surrender some control. Turn the radio or television to a random station. Give up the possibility of choice for a few moments. Then breath and allow yourself to feel. Mummer a three part mantra of some kind; something to keep you calm. Perhaps your name, the date, and the current weather. Next week we'll meet again."

"Cut," the director called out.

Nanako's spirit was instantly removed and Kyoko was nervous. Had she done alright? The character had, had a mind of her own. Saito, and by extension Ren, had looked so broken and alone... she had totally forgotten that she was supposed to make several scenarios. Panicked, she looked to the director waiting for him to tell her that she had screwed up and they had wasted so much time and...

"That was amazing," the director breathed. He could hardly believe his eyes as he had watched the scene. At first, he had felt like the clothing and the command to crawl was too much, but the way that the scene played out seemed so real. Saito, was a broken man, overcome by trauma and by taking control from him, it allowed for a vulnerability that was otherwise absent from the character.

"Mogami-san, he said you did well," Ren said.

The director snapped out of his thoughts and took a look at the pair that still sat on set. Tsuruga was trying to calm the actress. She seemed to be giving the actor permission to chop her up and use her for ingredients.

"I think you did very good as well. I had no idea what you what was going to happen and I responded to your lead. It's been a long time since I've felt this way during a filming."

Kyoko calmed accepting the kind words.

The director wondered what would happen if he called for another scene. They had some time left before they were scheduled to end for the day. "Tsuruga-san if you and Koyouko-san would be willing I would like to film another scenario with these two characters."

The scene was set up and the cameras were rolling. Ren quickly shifted into his character allowing another set of emotions to engulf him. He wondered how Kyoko would respond to him this time. He had to hold back a smile; he was having a lot of fun today.

Saito walked into the office of Kazumari Nanako. It had been a few days since he had last seen her and the advice that she had given him had worked well. It was funny that today he was consumed by the sadness of how much control he lacked.

"Hello," he greeted the woman softly as he took his seat.

Saito felt her eyes studying him, but he refused to look up. He wondered what she was going to do with this session though. Would it be a repeat of the last or was something totally different going to happen?

"What do you know about age-play?"

The question startled him. He knew the basics because of an odd case several years ago, but he hadn't thought of it in a long time and he answered as such.

"That's good," Nanako said. "It saves me from having to explain everything. This session might run over our time allotment. I tend to be a brat when I enter my little headspace." At Saito's look of disbelief, Nanako laughed. "I use age-play for specific cases, if you agree to my terms then today will be one of those days, if not we can do the good old fashioned 'how did you feel about that' type of session.

"The first option," Saito said. It sounded much better than sitting around and talking in any case.

"Very well," Nanako said as though she had anticipated what he would chose. "My safe word is 'Joseph'. If I say that you have to stop whatever we are doing and sit at my desk chair facing away from me so that I can age back up. Do you understand?'

Saito nodded.

"No you have to say you understand out loud."

"I understand."

"What's my safe word?"

"Joseph."

"Good. The only other mandate is that you have to interact with me," Nanako said as she went over to her closet and shut the door.

Saito didn't have much time to think before the door was opening. Nanako was dressed in a white shirt with the Sun on it boasting that it was a star. Her shorts were purple, she had two purple ribbons in her hair, and she was barefoot.

She didn't even look over at him before pulling a crate from the corner of the room and pulling out some legos. After a few minutes Saito realized that he wasn't going to be acknowledged if he didn't go over to her.

When he stood in front of her she finally looked up. She turned her head to the side quizzically. "Are you my babysitter?" She asked in a small voice.

Well apparently he knew his role in this session now. "Yes I am. My name is Narukami Saito, but you can call me Sai-kun if you want."

She seemed to consider the offer, whilst fiddling with a blue lego. Then she looked at him and smiled. My name is Kazumari Nanako, but everyone calls me Nana-chan."

"May I play with the legos with you, Nana-chan?"

The girl, for that's what she was right now, nodded timidly. Saito took off his suit jacket and laid it over the arm of the nearest couch. Then he sat down and started putting together a few legos. Eventually, they started to work together building a castle. After it was done Nana took out a few of the other toys. One was a knight, another was a princess, and the last was a brown stuffed dog.

Saito was all set up to play the knight when Nana handed him the princess doll. His expression must have advertised how surprised he was because she began to giggle. He allowed himself to laugh as well and set about proving how good a princess he could be.

After that game they played 'Fairy Safari'. They were following fairies and apparently it was a documentary because Nana was speaking into a hair brush like it was a microphone. They had just managed to find the valley of the 'snikerdoodle gumdrop fairies' when Nana yawned.

"Time for a nap."

"I don't wanna."

"Why not?"

"'Cause then we can't play more. I'm always alone when I play. It's funner with you."

Saito didn't want to make a promise that he could not keep to Nana. He had the feeling that age play wasn't something that Nanako did often, but he also felt that despite the infrequency it was still important to her. He realized that he could hurt her a lot with a lie while she was in this headspace. She had made herself vulnerable to him. "I'm only a phone call away." It was simple and it was not a lie.

"Really?"

"Yes."

For a moment she looked happy, but then her expression darkened and he knew what she was going to say before she did. "Joseph."

As promised he went to the desk chair and looked away. He would not betray the trust that he had been given.

He heard the closet shut and he stayed in the same position. It was tempting to speak, but he didn't.

"You can turn now." Nanako said.

Saito was alarmed to see that Nanako had been crying. "What did I do wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing. You were perfect, it was just a thought that came to mind at a bad time. More importantly we made good progress today."

Saito was confused.

"You came in today feeling as though you lacked control over something. So I thought it would be good for you to lead this session."

Suddenly, Saito understood why this was the women that the department therapist assigned people that were like him.

Saito stood and grabbed his jacket. "Are you sure that you're alright?" He asked.

Nanako grinned and ushered him out the door somewhat playfully promising that she was fine. Once he was gone her smile faded and she sighed. "I will be fine." She said to the empty room and then she began to pick up the toys.

Once again the director was astounded. One performance like that was expected, but another in so short a period was something else entirely. He had the sneaking suspicion that this character wouldn't be the throwaway that she was meant to be.


	3. Getting Together

**A/n Thanks for the reviews guys. Sorry I worried some with the authors note last chapter, but I thought the warnings were necessary. Anyway, this was supposed to be the last chapter, but I am thinking about continuing the story because I really liked writing Nanako.**

* * *

 **Getting Together**

Kyoko was fidgeting. She could feel Ren's silent laughter, but she wouldn't look at him. The television show that they had filmed was airing the episode in a few minutes and she was extremely nervous. She had no idea how the footage that they shot was going to be used in the drama.

It was a little after the midpoint of the episode that she found out. Saito had just entered Nanako's office and much to her surprise they had used the first scene exactly how it was shot. There was music played softly during the scene, but the audio was not cut.

Kyoko was mesmerized, not by her own image, but by Ren's. When she had been in character she had failed to notice things. She had focused on his eyes when they were performing the scene, but now she witnessed the emotions that were on display.

"He wants you to be a reoccurring character," Ren said when the commercial break started.

"Huh?"

"They felt like this character will get a lot of attention and if that turns out to be the case they want you in a few more episodes."

"But I'm just a beginner!" Kyoko protested.

"Hey I can't blame the director for knowing talent when he sees it." Ren shrugged as though he was stating something as simple as the fact that the sun was bright.

Then he was looking at her again. That soft expression she that she had witnessed more and more often. It was there when he was Cain and she was Setsu as well. That softening of the eyes and that smile.

Kyoko's breath hitched as the realization dawned on her. The discussion that Ren had with Bo came to mind. She had told him to seduce his crush. That night he had invited her over. She stood from the couch and stared at Ren in disbelief. More and more memories surfaced and her brain seemed eager to connect the dots, Not even the fact that Ren's expression had become concerned seemed to be enough to halt the memories.

Ren was talking. She could see that his mouth was moving, but she couldn't hear the words. Could it be possible that this man loved her? Should she ask? What would happen after she knew? Those questions aside, she knew that she needed to do something because Ren was shaking her or he had been the movement had stopped at some point. When had she closed her eyes?

Opening her eyes again she found that she was held in his arms. She smiled as she remembered one of their earliest encounters. It seemed almost surreal. She was aware of what was happening, but she couldn't do anything, but watch.

Ren was worried. Kyoko had basically fainted and now she was looking at him with a glazed expression. What had happened? He wondered if he should take her to a hospital? He was startled from his thoughts when one of her hands, the one not squished between them, came up and gently prodded his cheek.

"Are you real? Is this real?"

Ren looked at her quizzically, but she just kept asking questions.

"This is a dream right? I realize I want to give love another chance and the next day I realize you might love me. That kind of coincident doesn't happen in real life, right?" She finished.

Ren was sure that he had misheard what she'd said. He was trying to find a way to respond when he saw that Kyoko had closed her eyes again.

The next morning Kyoko woke in the guest bed at Ren's apartment. She knew that it had been a dream. There was no way that any of last night had happened. For a moment she was kind of sad. Then she was distracted by a knock at the door.

"Come in." she said.

Ren walked in holding a tray. On it was a bowl of oatmeal, a boiled egg, and a cup of orange juice. Oh god he had cooked.

Seeing her expression he adopted a hurt one. "I _can_ make simple things." He said sitting the tray down on the beside table.

"So," Kyoko said with a blush, "last night happened?"

Ren nodded.

"And you're okay with what I said?"

"The girl that I have loved for so long noticed and returns my feelings; what part of that would I have a problem with?"

"The part where I am plain and boring and you're _you."_

Ren frowned at her words because she had said them as though they were basic facts. "I'm not as perfect as you think I am," Ren said after a pause.

"What do you mean?" Kyoko asked shyly.

Ren sat on the bed and began his tale.

* * *

 **I think I want to continue this story so I changed the ending. The part under this is what I had originally typed. It was fun so I didn't want to just delete it. The line in italics is the line before the divergence between what I posted and what I cut.**

 _"The girl that I have loved for so long noticed and returns my feelings; what part of that would I have a problem with?"_

Kyoko would never know what possessed her at that moment, but she took a pillow and threw it at Ren. It hit his chest and then fell to the floor with a soft thump.

Ren picked up the pillow and fluffed it menacingly while walking toward the bed.

Kyoko backed away until she fell off the other side of the bed. She landed on the floor and she had nowhere left to run. She closed her eyes and ready herself for the attack by pillow. When too long had passed, sans attack, she cautiously cracked open an eye. Kneeling there in front of her, was Ren. He wasn't even holding the pillow threateningly anymore.

"I love you," he said.

Kyoko felt as though her face was hot as the surface of the sun. Why was it that this man could say such things so casually. Somehow, despite her uncooperative tongue she managed to voice that she loved him too.


	4. What is deserved

**A/n Sorry that this was such a long time in coming. I have a lot on my plate, but that doesn't mean that I have forgotten or given up on this story. I'm happy that so many of you have reviewed though asking me to update. I also liked the review that was given to me in Spanish because I was able to read it without the aid of Google Translate. Yay! Anyway, 11/17 is the day that I started this chapter just in case anybody was wondering.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

 **What is deserved**

* * *

Ren and the director had been right, Kyoko finally had to admit. The response to Nanako was overall a positive one. Even though she hadn't wanted to, Ren had made her look at some online thing where people were commenting on a lot of things about the show.

 **Midnight Wolfe –** Just watched the episode of Detective with Nanako. OMG it was amazing! They better bring back her character!

 **Dangerzone -** Dudes and Dudettes, how about that episode last night? I hear they will bring her character back! #longlivenanako

 **Boe-Tie- &-Fez – **That episode was awesome! Nuff said.

 **Qwertyui -** it wasn't all that *ey roll* I hate Nanako. The nerve of her bullying REN like that!

Needless to say that person had a lot of replies about tolerance, spelling and the fact that it was a TV show. There were a few others that expressed distaste for the character, but Kyoko had learned a long time ago that there was not a way to please everyone.

Since it was not wise to displease the fans, her character was written into the show for a few more episodes. That was how she found herself in the car with Ren and Yashiro going to the set. She was practically a ball of nerves because even though she would get to play against Ren again, it was decided that she was also going to play against other people.

She had expected as much when found out that she would be playing Nanako again. It was logical that they would want to see how she acted with another person, to see if her chemistry with Ren was the only thing that was keeping the scenes interesting. But of all the people in the world why did the person that they chose first have to be the actress that would have been playing the role that she was in had she had been there that day?

'Okay be calm' Kyoko told herself. She caught Ren looking at her in the rear view mirror and the conversation of a few nights ago came back to her. He had revealed the lies he had told her and the pain that he had gone through when he was younger. She still couldn't believe that chance had allowed her to find him again. They had both changed so very much in the years that had gone by since they had met in that forest.

He hadn't looked at her during his confession and she hadn't known what to say about it when he had finally finished. So instead of commenting on any of it she revealed that she was Bo the rooster. That little piece of information shocked Ren enough that he actually looked at her. He wasn't upset at her for keeping a secret from him, but he was suitably surprised.

For about a second there had been silence after she had told him and then Ren laughed. She had thought that it might have been the stress of telling her who he had been and what he had done. Then he had looked at her and said that he had been convinced that the person in the Bo suit was a guy and that he was dense too because, with as eccentric as she had been as Bo, he should have at least had an idea of who it was inside the rooster suit.

They hadn't seen each other again until last night at LME where Ren exposed her to the crazy comments of the fans of the show. It had been several days between the reveal and that, but Ren had called her every day. They had talked about so many things and she was left smiling after each conversation.

Kyoko had never thought that she would call Ren a shy man, but that was how he sounded when she was talking to him on the phone. His voice was always so quiet and his words seemed so carefully chosen. It was as though he thought that she would say what had happened that night was a dream and that he would wake up or perhaps that interpretation was her projecting her own feelings onto him.

A quick glace up allowed Kyoko to see Ren in the mirror without catching his eye, since he was focused on the road. She wondered what was going to happen now. Love had been her enemy for so long that it felt strange not to shudder at the thought of the word. Perhaps it was helped by the fact that Ren seemed to be the more vulnerable one within their relationship.

Kyoko's eyes widened as she realized how much trust and faith that Ren had shown her. He had given her the ability to practically ruin everything that he had worked so hard to create here in Japan. He had kept the fact that he had fallen in love with her a secret and tortured himself with the thoughts that she would not ever return that emotion for him. All the while he stayed by her side, helping her so much along the way, worried, that he might slip up and do something that he couldn't cover up with an excuse that would be acceptable as a teacher. He had managed to go without revealing something that he thought would scare her away forever even though it had hurt him.

She felt tears form in her eyes as she wondered if she truly deserved to be loved. Even with the flaws that he had revealed, Ren was still a good man. She knew that Ren thought that he was irreversibly tainted by his past, but he was a better person than he gave himself credit for and she didn't deserve his love.

"Kyoko-chan?"

Kyoko snapped back to awareness when she heard her name being called by the one that had dominated her thoughts during most of the ride. As she looked into his face she realized that while it was true that she didn't deserve his love, she wasn't selfless enough or foolish enough to give it up. She couldn't welcome it with open arms, due to her own past, but she would try to accept it.

Kyoko was saved from having to explain her thoughts to Ren, by the fact that the filming was to start soon, but she could feel his eyes on her. He was worried because he had seen her crying when he had stopped the car and only her promise to talk with him over dinner allowed them to go on to the set.

The scene with Nanako was to be filmed first and Kyoko tried not to show how nervous she was. Kyoko had only read parts of the script that had been written for this encounter. Most of it was left open, but the reason for meeting was specified. She took a risk by not reading it, but that would undermine the character. She walked over to the props area and made a request. It only took a few seconds to do that and then she made her way over to wardrobe to choose an outfit. She settled on jeans and a t-shirt, and made her way to the stage.

* * *

Nanako sat at her desk doing paperwork. It was by far the least fun part of her job, but it had to be done. There was a knock at her door and she didn't even get a chance to call out for the person to enter before the woman burst through the door. Without even greeting her first the woman plopped down on the couch.

"How may I assist you?" Nanako asked continuing to do her paperwork.

"Incompetent woman! Did you not even take the time to read about the reason for my appointment?"

Nanako simply shook her head in reply. "I did read your file, but I seem to have forgotten everything," Nanako really hadn't read the file and all she knew was that this woman was ordered by the court to come here. She could think of several reasons for why that might be.

She heard the woman breathe more rapidly, an obvious sign of anger, and that was her cue to look up.

"You worthless woman! To think you call yourself a professional!" the woman scoffed.

Nanako stood and took a deep breath before turning a glare of pure hatred to the other woman.

"How dare you call me useless! _You_ came to _me_ remember?"

"Well it's not like I wanted to." the woman scoffed. "If I had, had a choice I wouldn't be here with a no name woman like you."

"Well you are here and I would very much appreciate if you would show me some respect in this office," Nanako spat with pure venom.

"Like I would do that with a woman that doesn't even take her job seriously," the woman said just as much venom infused in her words.

"How dare you say that you ugly witch!"

"What did you call me!"

"You heard me. I called you an UGLY WITCH!"

Finally, her patient had become so enraged that she had stopped talking and closed her eyes. Nanako walked over to the door, opened it, and then shut it with enough force that the woman looked at her in shock.

"I am _so_ glad that's over," Nanako sighed, moving back towards her desk, and getting a bottle of water that had been stashed there by the prop master. "Do you want one? Yelling always makes me so thirsty. I mean I try to avoid yelling, but in this case I guess it couldn't be helped."

"What are you-,"

With a shrug Nanako put the cap back on the bottle and practically skipped over to the couch. When she got there she sat down in the personal space of the other woman and grasped her hand. "When you arrived I noticed your red nail polish, what kind is it?"

"Wha-,"

"Is it Ruby Red or Sunset Blush?" Nanako said examining the nails again.

"Don't you have a job to do?" the woman asked, pulling her hand back from Nanako. The words were harsh sounding, but the woman seemed really flustered.

"I already did my job and there is still time in the session so I wanted to have some girl talk."

The woman's puzzled look remained and Nanako saw that she was going to have to explain. Nanako adopted her professional tone and moved away to the other end of the couch. "Inohara-san, you did not want to be here. I knew that I needed to let you express that anger and it served as a fine test. The only part of the file that I read was that you were court ordered here. There are many reasons for that, but due to your anger I felt that someone was trying to take something from you. It was very likely that this was a case concerning a child, because had it just been over a material thing I don't think you would be so enraged nor would they have assigned you to me. After deducing that, I gathered that your anger issues were the matter that had gotten you a session with me. They want to know if you would be dangerous to the child. "

"You could have been certain had you just read the file." Shiko said with a blush.

"That's true, but then that takes away your freedom to tell me what you feel is important. I want you to share information with me, but if I read all the court data you wouldn't have that opportunity."

Shiko's eyes widened at this revelation. "You're right." She paused and looked down before she continued. "This is a battle over my six year old son and my ex-husband wants to take him from me. What will you tell the court about our session?"

"Something along the lines of my opinion is that you are not a danger to the child. I fought with you to see how you would respond and instead of threatening bodily harm you chose to shut down and breathe. Some anger management courses would be recommended, and of course there should be a follow-up session where I observe the child with you, and the one challenging your custody.

"So that was all a test?"

Nanako dropped the professional tone and nodded with a smile. "Now about that nail polish..."

* * *

"You are not what I'd expected Kyouko-san," Himiko Kazuya said when they had left the set.

Kyoko blushed and looked down. Without her character to hide behind she felt quite timid. "I'm sorry for fighting with you Himiko-san."

"There is no need for you to apologize. I was wrong to come into the scene so angry. I had a lot of fun though. Just between the two of us, I think that you did a better job with the character than I could have."

Kyoko didn't know what to say to that so she just thanked her.

After the other actress left Kyoko went to watch Ren work. She didn't have another scene until the next day. Later today she had a shoot for Box-R so there was no point in going to school.

Dinner time came far to quickly, and unfortunately for Kyoko, Ren hadn't forgotten that she promised to explain what she had been thinking about in the car on the way to the set.

"Why were you crying this morning?" Ren asked after the silence had filled the room for as long as he could stand.

Kyoko poked at her food, refusing to meet Ren's eyes. "Today when we were in the car I realized how much you trusted me since you told me about your past." Kyoko paused and she saw the confusion on Ren's face so she dredged up the will to continue speaking. "That was when I figured out that I don't deserve you," she said quietly unable to stop the tears that came to her eyes. Now that he knew what she was thinking would he realize that it was the truth? When Ren was quiet for what seemed to be a long time, Kyoko peeked up at him. There was a startled look on his face as though that was the last thing that he had expected to hear from her.

When he caught her gaze, he took a breath and let it out slowly. "What made you think that ?" he asked in a voice that was little louder than a whisper.

"Your _you_ and one day when you are ready the world will know who you are beneath the mask you wear. You're special and I'm not. I'm still just a novice actress and there is nothing important about me. Even my own mother didn't love me so there must have always been something that just made me less than everybody else."

"Maria-chan, Yashiro-san, Takarada-san, Kotonami-san, Hizuri-san, and myself." When Ren saw that he list had gotten Kyoko to look at him with confusion he spoke again. "These are people that care about you. I'm sure that it is not a comprehensive list, but there are at least six people in this world that care about you. When I look at you I see a beautiful young woman has had a tough life and still flourished. But you are right; you don't deserve me."

Ren stood and knelt in front of Kyoko so that he could see her eyes. He hurried to speak not wanting to give her time to reach the wrong conclusions about the words that he had already spoken. "You don't deserve to be weighed down by my past. You don't deserve to put up with the nightmares that I sometimes have about who I was . You don't deserve to deal with my relationship with my parents. You don't deserve what some people will say if we go public with our relationship. You don't deserve any of that, you deserve a better person, and I am sure that there is a lot more about me that you don't deserve to endure, but Kyoko-chan, I love you and I am too selfish a man to push you away. If you don't want me I will let you go," Ren didn't mention the fact that he was sure that he would not fare well if she did that. It wouldn't be fair to her to indicate just how dependent his happiness was on her. "But if you decide that you can care about me despite all of my flaws; I would very much like to be the man that marries you one day because you are special to me."

Kyoko couldn't believe her ears. Ren wanted her forever. There was no doubting the honesty in his eye as he had said those words. There was no going back from here. Even though past experience cautioned her and made her wary, her heart had already made the leap. It was Ren's to hold and protect now.

"Hey what's the matter?" Ren asked gently. "Did I say something wrong?" he asked wondering if the marriage comment had been too much. It was how he felt, but perhaps he shouldn't have mentioned it.

Kyoko shook her head.

"Then what's the matter?" he asked again.

"I'm relieved and scared, but mostly I'm happy," she finished with a smile.

Ren eagerly returned her smile with his own. Then he stood and took her hand silently asking her to do the same. "Can I kiss you?" he asked.

"Yes," she whispered.

He went slowly to give her time to change her mind if she wanted. The kiss was chaste, but for both of them it was nothing short of extraordinary thanks to all the meaning behind it.

Suddenly some music started playing.

" _L-O-V-E_

 _What's that spell? What's that spell?_

 _L-O-V-E_

 _You know what that spells._

 _It spells love. Yeah, love is what that spells._

 _L-O-V-E that spells love._

 _That big emotion_

 _Sense of devotion_

 _Constantly causing such a commotion_

 _Wish we could bottle it and sell it as a potion..._ "

Whatever the next lyrics were remained unknown because Ren picked up his phone. There was only one being in the world that would make that their ring tone voluntarily.

After Kyoko got over the shock she laughed so hard and Ren knew that she would never let him live this moment down.

"What can I do for you today President Idiot." Ren said in a dark tone so dark it was as though he had channeled a demon.

"Oh, so you heard my new ring tone?" Lory asked jovially. "You have to admit it was quite the appropriate choice. Oh is that Mogami-kun I hear in the background?"

"Stop stalling," Ren ordered.

"Alright, alright you grumpy man. Perhaps it is a good thing that Mogami-kun is there. I just called, out of the kindness of my heart, to tell you Kuu is coming back to Japan soon."

"Thanks," Ren said and then hung up. It was rude, but Lory had deserved it for that trick that he pulled.

"Was that President Takarada?" Kyoko asked.

"Yeah, he called to say that.. Hizuri Kuu is coming back to Japan soon. Isn't that terrible? I don't even know what to call the man that passed along that Y-chromosome.

Kyoko reached out and took Ren's hand with her own. "You can call him whatever you want, but as long as you talk _to_ him, I'm sure that he'll be happy."

"What about you? What will you call him?"

"Umm that's... I … he... I'll put away the leftovers!" She practically ran after that announcement.

Ren laughed softly at her actions and followed after her to help.

 **A/n Sorry for the wait everyone. This chapter just was not working for so long. Thanks to everyone that reviewed faved and followed. It really help motivate me. Anyway I have a few ideas of what to do next, but I would like some input if any of you would be so kind.**

 **Kuu is going to appear in the next chapter because I love writing the man, and I want to know if you all want Julie to come with him.**

 **Also there will be a scene with Nanako and Ren's detective character (can't remember his name as I type this note. (Kinda bad considering I created said character huh?)) Anyway after the scene I want to have something happen here are the options.**

1) Something bad happens to Kyoko. That will get an emotional response from Ren and add some drama. It won't be life threatening. (Likely they'd be in character as Setsu and Cain in this option.)

2) Somehow Kyoko ends up with Sho and a) something happens to Kyoko (hurt by Sho or some other force and again not life threatening or therapy inducing) or b) Ren sees her.

3) Pure Fluffy stuff.

 **Any other suggestions will help out to. Thanks for reading. By the way the song as Lory's ring tone is a song that I made up. It's fitting though, right?**


	5. Scenes and other things

Chapter 5

Scenes and other things

 **A/n So I started typing this chapter and it went on and on and got well over 7k words so I decided to split it up into two chapters. Most of you guys wanted options 1 or 3 and some wanted both. So this chapter is going to have some drama and some fluff and the next will be HURT/comfort (note the capitalized hurt because I decided on heavy emotional turmoil) and then a boat load of fluff. At least that is the plan. Thanks for the reviews and fave/follows. They helped a lot and it makes me happy that people are reading what I write and thankful that people take the time to leave comments for me.**

* * *

Kyoko was feeling a bit overwhelmed. Part of it was that in addition to ready herself for Kuu coming back to Japan, she had a lot of work to do both in her acting roles and for the LoveMe section, If that wasn't enough to worry about,.Ren, was scheduled to appear on TBM and she knew that he was going to throw her a curve-ball of some sort because he had an evil glint in his eye when he revealed that he was making an appearance on the show. She was half tempted to take a sick day from being the mascot just to avoid whatever it was that Ren had planned. As though that wasn't enough for her to be concerned about, Box-R was in the process of shooting the season finale, and she also had the role of Nanako to shoot.

Box-R's shoot went better than she had expected and she was able to cross that item off of her list of things to do. Luckily, the shoot had taken place in the morning so she had plenty of time to make it to the studio to get into the rooster costume. Playing the role of Natsu had taken her thoughts off of the fact that Ren would be appearing on the show. He was going to be the last guest of the night as well, so she figured that he wasn't going to do anything too wild seeing as he had offered to drive her home after since this was the last thing that they both had scheduled for the day.

The time seemed to fly by and before Kyoko knew it Ren was walking onto the stage. Before any questions could be asked Bo ran over to him and fluttered around. The rooster scratched his head with a wing and shrugged his shoulders.

"You don't know who I am?" Ren asked with sadness that was obviously faked. The man was clearly overacting and overreacting, but the crowd made a sympathetic sound at the expression upon the actor's features.

Bo began squawking apologies, hugging the man, and wiping away imaginary tears from Ren's face before repeating the motions on himself.

"Alright, Bo-kun, I forgive you," Ren said with a smile.

Bo skipped away, fluttering and twirling like a schoolgirl. Then went to the seat where Ren was to sit and dusted it off. The rooster then proceeded to bow to Ren.

Ren graciously accepted the offered seat after introducing himself.

"Thank you for coming on the show Tsuruga-san," the host said.

"Thank you for having me," Ren replied with a smile.

Inside the Bo suit Kyoko rolled her eyes at the shrieking girls in the audience.

After a few questions about his latest movies and dramas the host asked Ren to tell a the crowd a something that he had kept a secret. This question, obviously, had a planned answer.

Ren smiled again and Kyoko was happy to be in the suit because it was one of the real ones that always melted her. " Well you see... I am Bo-kun's biggest fan. He's such a talented rooster and very knowledgeable." Ren said with the utmost sincerity. The audience laughed and Kyoko blushed full force inside the suit.

Bo ran up to Ren and pointed a wing at himself.

"Yes I was talking about you Bo-kun." Ren assured him.

Bo twirled his wings in a roll motion and offered one wing to Ren. They gazed at each other for a moment before Ren accepted the wing and they danced. It was a bit uncoordinated since Bo was shorter, very wide, and leading the dance. The lights dimmed and a spotlight was put on them. Music started to play and on the large screen there was a heart border and Ren and Bo's images were within it.

" _The first time that you appeared withn my sight_

 _I knew that this would always be right_

 _Through all the ups and downs, that life sent our way_

 _I can never regret meeting you that day_

 _Even if all the memories fade_

 _Even if time claims them all_

 _There will always be me and you..."_

The song continued for several minutes and slowly began to fade out. At the end they both bowed to one another.

There was a thunderous round of applause. The dance had looked positively goofy, but nevertheless it was a very sweet moment and everyone was laughing and clapping.

* * *

Ren kept his eyes on the road. Even so he could feel Kyoko glaring at him with the force of a thousand demons and he knew that not even the patented Cain Heel puppy-eyed stare would get him out of the hole that he had dug for himself. The worst part of the situation was that he was unaware of what he had done to put himself on the chopping block. After the show was done she had gone into the back to change into her clothes and then when she had gotten into the car she was already giving him a death stare that had been on him ever since they had left the studio lot.

"Kyoko-chan," he started as he drove the familiar route to his apartment.

"Don't you 'Kyoko-chan' me Kuon Hizuri," She growled.

Ren gulped. She had used his real name, in the English format no less, so he knew that she was really, really, angry with him. _That reminds me I need to update my will_ , he thought.

After he had parked, a cell phone was thrust in front of his face with a text on the screen. The message was from a certain meddling manager and Ren was going to have words with the man when they saw each other the next day. "Explain this please," Kyoko said in a voice that was far to calm for Ren's liking,

"Well, you see, there is a reason there. See I was busy and you know how work gets sometimes and well I forgot." Ren finished sheepishly as he exited his car. _To whom it may concern, please do not pursue the cause of my death. I deserved it. All my belongings go to Mogami Kyoko._ Ren composed in his head.

Kyoko waited until they had reached his apartment before she spoke again."That's it! This is the last time that I let you get away with missing so many meals!" Kyoko declared. "Ren-san you are now tasked with texting me a daily food log and if you don't there will be consequences."

"What consequences?" Ren asked struggling to sound nonchalant.

"I'll... make you paint my nails!" she decreed.

Ren laughed. "That wouldn't be a punishment for me. I would do that if you wanted me to because I would be getting to spend time with you and you would finally be letting me do something for you."

"I'll make you shop with me," she tried.

"That would be a privilege because I would get to buy you things that you want."

"I'll make you cook?"

"You'd suffer too in that case."

"I'll let the Takarada-san plan our future wedding!" she cried desperately.

Ren was shocked for a moment and then he reached out and hugged her. When he pulled back there were tears in his eyes and he made no effort to hide them. "Alright, I agree to your terms," he said with a quiet laugh.

"Why are you crying?" Kyoko asked with obvious concern.

"I'm happy," he replied.

"That I want to let Takarada-san plan our future wedding?"

"No, I don't want him involved at all. He can attend, but that will be the only role that he has. No, what I am happy about is that you can imagine us being married one day. I know that you care for me, but you haven't said so in as many words and you saying that, in my mind, is equal to the words that you haven't spoken."

"I'm sorry," Kyoko said. She hadn't realized that she had made him sad by not saying how she felt aloud. But she feared if she said the words something bad would happen. It was fear that held the words that he needed to hear back. Perhaps she could talk around the words? At the very least she needed to assure him that she wanted him.

She hugged him this time. "You have been there as my fairy prince, as my teacher, as my friend, and now you are more than all of those. I don't think that I ever felt this way for anyone else and I don't want you to leave me. I can't say the word, at least not yet, but I do care a lot about you."

Ren held her tighter. It didn't matter that she couldn't say the words. In a way her feelings were more powerful because she hadn't. "I don't care if you say the words or not. Holding you like this is enough, Being able to look into your eyes and see those emotions are enough."

"No matter how much you I care about you, you still have to text me details of your meals," she said after a moment.

Ren laughed and pulled away and lifted her in a princess hold. "Your wish is my command," he said.

Predictably she blushed, but unlike the first time that he had held her in this fashion, she did not struggle.

The next day they went to the set together to shoot another scene between Nanako and Saito. Before the scene started, while Ren was still changing, the director pulled Kyoko aside.

"Viewers like the scenes between your character and Tsuruga-san's, but as stated a little while back the third session should be the last. Your task is to create a situation that causes his character to require more meetings or creates a desire for him to continue seeing her, in either an official capacity or an unofficial one."

"Is there any guidelines for achieving those results?" she asked trying to think up scenarios for the second option since the first seemed counterproductive.

"Nothing specific, just keep it as simple as you can." the director instructed.

It was only when she had slipped into the role that she thought of the actions that she would have to take. She went over to the woman in charge of make-up and then to the prop master. There wasn't much time to get the things that she needed done.

* * *

Nanako sat at her desk. Her faced with scrunched up with concentration, trying to make the words, that she was writing with her non-dominate hand, at least somewhat legible, when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," she called looking at the door.

It opened and Saito stepped into the office,

Nanako's smile seemed at once genuine and forced. "So what do we call each other now?" she asked as she sat beside him.

"You may call me by my given name if you prefer," Saito said when he remembered that the other sessions had consisted of various ways of address.

"Then you must refer to me in the same," Nanako said with a smile. "So, Saito-san, to start, I'm going to ask you some questions and I want you to answer in one word. Does that work for you?"

"Yes."

Nanako couldn't help,but smile at the smirk that Saito had on his face. The man had truly come a long way since that first meeting.

"What is the best word to describe how you feel emotionally at this moment?"

"Sad."

"Do you want to explain that?"

"After this we don't have to meet anymore. The meetings went a lot better than I thought they would."

"Thank you Saito-san. The fact that you think that means a lot to me. My next question is about you physical state. How do you feel physically?"

"Healthy."

"Very good." Nanako said not sensing any deception. Lastly, how have things been at work?"

"Boring."

"Now that will need to be explained." Nanako said with a laugh.

"Since I was sent to you I have been on desk duty. It's the most boring thing that I have done in a long time."

It seemed that Saito was going to continue speaking, but he was interrupted by the sound of a phone. Nanako apologized to Saito and went over to her desk. Her eyes widened as she looked at the name that flashed on the screen. There was a short conversation and Nanako dashed out the door.

Saito stayed where he was, confused, by what had just happened. Ren was almost ready to break character when Nanako finally returned.

"Oh, Narukami-san, you are still here? You could have left while I was gone. You will have the paperwork recommending that you are capable of returning to duty available by tomorrow." She didn't look at him as she spoke. She stayed facing the desk.

Saito had been a detective long enough to know that something was wrong and his protective nature would not allow him to leave as long that it was within his power to do something to help.

"Nanako-san?" he asked gently as he walked over to where she was standing. She refused to turn around, and began to walk away when he was close enough to touch her. He reached out for her wrist and secured it in a gentle hold.

Nanako jerked around pulling her arm back and glaring at Saito accusingly. A second later she realized what she had done and turned back around, but the damage was done Saito had already seen her face. Gently, but firmly, Saito forced her to turn back towards him. He looked at her face and he could tell that the area where she had been hit was going to bruise. At that moment it was like all the fight left her. He gently rolled up the sleeve of her shirt and found a large hand print, no wonder she had flinched when he had grabbed it.

"Who did this to you?" he asked not missing her flinch as he had rolled up her sleeve. It hurt him that she thought that he would hurt her.

"Nobody did anything to me." She claimed. "I was clumsy on my way out of the office and I fell on the stairs."

Saito almost growled. That was an excuse that he had heard far to often in the past and there was no way that it was true.

That was where the director called to end the scene. He had not expected such a scene, but he couldn't say that the actress hadn't created a scenario where Nanako would need Saito. The character wouldn't be able to leave this situation be, due to his compassionate nature and his gratefulness to Nanako, and there could be some great story lines to come out of it. It would be more heavily scripted than these scenes were, but stopping here would give the potential for many different types of stories to come about.

* * *

After the scene Kyoko was very aware of Ren's eyes on her, She knew that she wanted to go to afternoon classes at school, but she could sense that Ren needed to talk to her. Luckily the director issued a ten minute break so that they could set up for the next scene. The two of them made there way to a quiet corner of the room.

"Is there something wrong? She asked concerned by the look on his face.

Ren tried to calm himself when he saw how worried she was. He took a breath before he spoke. "You almost made me break character during that scene." Ren said for lack of better place to start. The shock on her face was well worth admitting that fact.

Before she could apologize for some imagined wrongdoing, he spoke again. "You acted that scene so well and it made me... worried that something like that may have really happened to you." Ren finished trying to contain the anger that he felt at the thought that anyone might have harmed Kyoko like in the scene that she had portrayed.

Kyoko caught on quick to what Ren was worrying about. Sho was a bastard, but before that incident recently he had never raised a hand to her and she hurried to reassure him. "I drew of off the scenes in old movies... and the fear that I had when I thought that my mother was going to strike me," she admitted whispering the end of her sentence,

Ren felt awful for making her tell him something that obviously still was a painful for her to remember, but he couldn't help the relief that came with knowing that her previous relationship had not been physically, as well as mentally, abusive. "I'm sorry for making you relive such memories," he apologized.

"Compared with what you have shared with, this was nothing."

"I disagree. My memories are painful, but yours are too there is no comparison to be made there. I was just so worried..." he trailed off with a sigh.

"Thank you for worrying about me," she said.

It made Ren sad to realize that Kyoko was so starved of kindness that she thanked him for showing concern about her. Even so, he smiled at her, renewing the promise that he had made to himself, that he would help heal the wounds that the people that were closest to her heart had placed there.

* * *

Kyoko made it to school for afternoon classes. It had been a while since she had gotten to attend, but she found that she could keep up academically even with her sporadic attendance. She was also still alienated from the other girls in her class due to her closeness with Ren, not that she would ever tell him that. She knew that it would hurt Ren if he was to find that out. There was nothing that he could do about it and she wouldn't have him worried over something that he had no control over. She cared about him to much to allow him to deal with something that wasn't all that important. She wondered what the girls would do if they found out just how close she was with Ren.

During a break between classes she received a text. There was a picture of the lunch that she had packed Ren, it was more than three quarters of the way eaten and it showed Ren eating a bite. Yashiro must have been the one to take it then. She smile and sent a happy face emoji back with a text that read 'good job'. She wasn't able to stop smiling for a while.

After school Kyoko had some LoveMe assignments to attend to. While changing into the pink jumpsuit she ran into her best friend. "Moko-san!" she yelled in a pleased shout as she ran to embrace the dark-haired woman.

"Don't 'Moko-san' me you ungrateful woman! Where have you been!?"

"Kinda busy," Kyoko answered sheepishly. Quickly as she could she related the events of the recent past including how she had finally found out that Ren was in love with her and that she felt just as strongly for him,

"If he hurts you..." the dark-haired woman growled with all the fierceness of a lioness protecting her cub.

Kyoko smiled. She must be the luckiest girl in the world to have a friend like Moko-san.

Before Kyoko knew it, nighttime had rolled around and she was back at Ren's apartment. _I'm here so much that I might as well move in_ she thought. Then she promptly blushed at such a thought. It was far too early for something like that.

"Something I should know about?" Ren asked when he saw her blush.

Kyoko shook her head, eternally grateful that Ren couldn't read her thoughts.

After dinner he took her home. She could see that he was reluctant to do so. It seemed that he tried to get her to stay every time that she was at his apartment at night. Already the lovely older couple that she lived with thought that they were engaged in _certain_ activities. She'd pretended that she hadn't heard the lecture and warning that they had given Ren a few nights ago.

Kyoko smiled as she snuggled under her blanket. She had friends and family now. There were so many people that cared about her and they had all help mend her heart that had been ripped to pieces.

The next day both Ren and Kyoko were called to the President's office. That day the office was a forest and the President was dressed in a hunter's outfit. Neither of them batted an eye, since they were far to used to the Lory's antics.

"You both are wondering why you're here yes?" Lory asked as he dismounted from a camel.

Without waiting for response he launched into an explanation. "The screen test for Tragic Marker was done a few days ago. The reactions were over all a positive, but they felt that the ending was a little lackluster. The director wanted Cain Heel to come back to shoot a few extra scenes so that they could edit the ending. That would mean, of course, that there would be a need for Setsuka Heel as well."

Ren thought about what it would mean to step into that role again. Since he had confessed to Kyoko he no longer felt as trapped by his past as he did before. Apart from Setsu's wardrobe he really didn't see too much of a problem with becoming the character again.

"How long will it take to shoot these extra scenes?" Ren asked suddenly,

"No more than a week or so I'm told," Lory replied.

"Hizuri-san isn't scheduled to visit for another two weeks and I just wanted to be sure that this wouldn't overlap with that time seeing as Mogami-san became close with him on his last trip to Japan. What about you Mogami-san? Would you be willing to play Setsuka once more?"

Kyoko was not adverse to playing Setsuka again. In fact she was eager to. She had thought that she would never play her again and it was a bittersweet feeling. The clothes were revealing and it was hard to hear all the things that the Heel siblings were called because of their behavior. But the role was partly responsible for getting her and Ren so close. Furthermore, it was a lot of fun to play the character. _And you like having a monopoly on Ren's, or in that case Cain', attention._ She struggled to stop the blush that, that thought caused, but there was no way that she could deny that. As Setsuka she allowed herself to monopolize in a way that she would never do as herself. If nothing else it would let her stop worrying about Kuu's impending visit. _Guess that answers the question._

"I would be happy to play Setsu again."

"Well that's that. I'll tell the director that you have both agreed to work with him again. After you both finish work today come my office. Jelly will be here to turn you two into the siblings again."

The President seemed to know that they were going to agree because their schedules had already been moved around in order to accommodate being the siblings once more.


	6. Hurt is felt

A/n **Sorry this took so long. I didn't know how I wanted to end the chapter until today. I literally typed the last part this morning right before posting. This chapter has all the hurt and a minor bit of comfort, but that just means that the next chapter will be flufftastic. thanks for the reviews they make me really happy.**

* * *

"Hey Brother, look it's the cheese brain," Setsu pointed out, in English as they walked into the studio.

Cain smirked and patted his sister on the head.

Setsu pouted and Cain continued to smirk because his little sister was just too cute sometimes.

As the scene began Setsu tried to hide the fact that she was shivering. It was rather cold in the building and her leather shorts weren't the most warming garment. Her leather trench coat helped, but she was still cold. A look around told her that the temperature wasn't bothering any of the others though and she wondered if her perception of the temperature was off. She closed her eyes for moment when she felt slightly dizzy.

"Setsu are you alright?" Cain asked.

Setsu forced herself not to jump at the sudden appearance of her brother. The moment she did something like that he would know that something was wrong because it was her self-appointed duty to always be aware of her brother. She allowed a smile to come over her features in an effort to set her brother at ease. "I'd be better if we were back at the hotel," she replied moving closer to her most important man.

"You feel a bit warm," Cain said after placing a hand on her face.

Setsu reached up and smoothed out the frown that had taken up residence on his face. It was nice to know that he was worried about her because it showed that his attention was just where she preferred it, but he had a job to do and she wouldn't allow anyone to claim that her brother wasn't doing his job. "I'm fine. I was just a bit too excited to watch you acting in this scene," Setsu said moving her hand to his bare chest to show why.

Cain smirked, but Setsu could tell that he didn't really believe her excuse.

She didn't shiver again.

* * *

Once they were back in their hotel Ren finally broke character. "Are you alright Kyoko-chan?"

"I'm fine," Kyoko answered with a grin. She was happy that she didn't have to face him since she was making dinner for the both of them. If he was looking at her she was sure that he would have known that she was lying. She only had a slight fever and she had made sure to take some medicine that she had in her purse. She hoped that it would work because she didn't want to inconvenience Ren.

When she had placed the food on the table Ren gave her a look that said that he wasn't fooled by her earlier statement. Kyoko smiled and slipped back into character as Setsu so that she could avoid the conversation.

The next morning Kyoko was made instantly aware that, despite the medicine she had taken, her condition had worsened. For a moment she considered telling Ren that she didn't feel well at all, but she knew that he would insist on staying at the hotel to take care of her. That was not an option though because today was when the were shooting BJ's new death scene.

That left one course of action for her to take. She would hide how ill she had become over night until the new scene was finished being shot and then she would let Setsu decide how to reveal that she was sick. She wondered what Setsu would do. Whatever she did was sure to be dramatic because she would want Cain to notice and to take care of her.

Hiding how ill she was dependent on timing. Her brother would no doubt insist that they remain in the room if he became aware of her illness before they had arrived on the set, Setsu packed them both a lunch and then got her clothes set out while she was waiting on her brother to finish up in the bathroom.

When she heard the click of the door she made her way into the bathroom. Setsu stayed in the bathroom a little longer than necessary since she wanted to make sure that it would be time for them to leave after she finished getting dressed.

The car ride to the set was the hardest part because she had to pretend to be upset with her brother so that she would have a valid excuse not to be snuggled with him like she usually was. Her moodiness did not go unnoticed.

"Setsu?" Cain asked with a softness that was reserved for his sister.

"What?" Setsu growled at him while continuing to stare out the window. She hoped the harshness of her tone was enough to cover up how rough her voice was from her sore throat. She couldn't wait until this movie business was done and she could have her brother all to herself again.

He placed his hand on her shoulder and reluctantly she turned to face him only to be met with Cain's puppy dog eyes. "Why are you mad at me?" he asked in a tone that made him sound like a whimpering puppy.

Setsu squashed the urge to melt at that tone and expression. This was for her brother's own good and she wouldn't relent. She pulled away from her brother and resumed looking out the window. She knew that he didn't deserve to think that she was angry with him, but she contented herself with the knowledge that after the scene she would tell him everything.

Cain was hurt by his sister's rejection. That morning she had not been herself and now she was angry at him and would not tell him why. He thought back to the previous days and could see no reason for it. He had eaten decent meals and he had taken care of himself. He couldn't think of anything that he had done to make Setsu angry.

 _Maybe it's not_ Setsu _that is mad at me,_ was Cain's next thought.

He didn't have too long to think about that because they had arrived. The location was a low traffic area that had been closed off for filming. The area consisted of a mile of road and a small corner store that was closed for the duration on the filming. The previous ending to the film had BJ shot by a police squad inside of a warehouse. This one was going to be one that consisted of a more suicidal death.

Cain was doing his own stunts in this ending as well. Cain wondered if that was what had angered Setsu.

Everything was spinning. Setsu was so dizzy that she could hardly stand. There was only one more take needed. Then she could allow herself to fall into Cain's arms and apologize for her mood on the way over.

Setsu closed her eyes for a moment and then forced them back open when a loud screech reached her ears. She neatly fainted as she saw the car coming towards her. The spirit of Setsu instantly fled leaving Kyoko there. There was no time for her to move and she wondered if this was going to be the end. Was God truly cruel enough to end her life the moment that she was finally learning to be happy? She closed her eyes unable to look at her important man at that moment.

A minute or two passed with a distinct lack of pain or death and she wondered how she had survived the collision. She looked around and gave a breathless laugh. The architecture of the building had saved her. She hadn't wanted the cast and crew to notice that she was feeling ill because that would undermine the stoniness that she always portrayed, about fifteen minutes ago she spotted an alcove between two brick walls of the convenience store and slid into it. That in addition to the brakes of the car left her with only a few scratches on her hands as a result of the accident.

Now that she had calmed a bit she could hear Ren or maybe it was Cain. "NO! Please no! SETSU!" He was calling out, but there was something about the way that he was doing so that didn't feel Cain-like. Perhaps he was caught in between personalities.

Kyoko took a breath and allowed herself to be Setsu again just in time to witness the vehicle that had pinned her to the building begin to move.

There he was. Her brother was right there, looking so frightened and lost and so very, very small. There were tears in his eyes and he looked nothing like the demon that the others had come to know during the course of the filming. He looked like a man who had, in the space of a few seconds, lost his entire world. There was danger in that appearance of desolation and nobody dared to go near him.

Setsu stumbled toward him and that was when it hit her. She _could_ have died. She _almost_ died. Before she could take another step, Cain was there, holding her as she cried and holding her tight.. She barely felt the sting of her scrapped hands on the fabric of Cain's clothes. What Setsu did feel was the man in her arms trembling. It seemed as though, were she to let go he would, quite simply, fall apart.

"You almost left me," he whispered, voice cracking on every word. He couldn't help himself. He was trapped in a space where he wasn't Cain or Ren. He was both and neither and that made the thought of losing her worse. To Cain, Setsu was the only one that mattered, he would be nothing without her, and to Ren, Kyoko was his light. She gave him the strength to face his past and to believe in his future. He couldn't imagine a future without her because he didn't want one.

Both sets of emotion were swirling in him and only the fact that Setsu and Kyoko needed him gave him the strength to stay upright.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as she lost consciousness.

Ren scooped her up as though she weighed nothing. He carried her over to the paramedic that was there just in case the stunt had gone wrong. He allowed the man to look at Kyoko and clean her hands, but he refused to let her go. He had almost lost her and he wasn't sure that he would ever get over that moment of terror.

The paramedic seemed to understand that taking the woman out of the arms of the arms of the rather scary gentleman, that was likely a demon, would result in certain death, and treated her as best as he could. She had a rather high fever and when he brought it to the man's attention he saw him frown as he gazed down at the woman. The paramedic recommended that the man take the woman to the hospital, but he was not surprised when he refused and walked away.

Ren got both of them back to the hotel and he called Lory to update him on the situation.

"Hello," Lory said.

"I...We...I don't know what... how to say it." Ren stuttered.

"Take a breath Ren. Tell me what happen simply." Lory said calmly.

"Tragic Marker was shooting the last scene and some moron came speeding through the barricade and... and...the car... hit her. It hit her. I thought... I thought that I had lost her. But the alcove in the wall saved her." Ren cried not even ashamed of how broken he sounded. He _was_ broken. "I'll call again later," he said be fore he hung up. The moment he was done he climbed into the bed that he had laid Kyoko on. He wrapped himself around her trying to convince himself that she was safe.

* * *

"Tragic Marker was shooting the last scene and some moron came speeding through the barricade and... and...the car... hit her. It hit her. I thought... I thought that I had lost her. But the alcove in the wall saved her I'll call again later."

In Lory's office three people sat stunned. Kuu and Julie had showed up a few days early to surprise Ren and Kyoko. Not thinking that there was anything wrong, Lory had put Ren on the speaker phone when he had called wanting to give Kuu and Julie a chance to hear their son.

"Where are they?" Kuu asked ready to dash over to his children the moment that he knew where he was going.

"They are in a hotel," Lory answered. "But if you two show up the media will be all over the situation and that will put both of them is a spotlight that they don't want.

"We can't just sit here!" Julie yelled.

Lory thought for a moment. It was true that they couldn't go to Ren and Kyoko as themselves, but what if they went as Setsuka and Cain's parents? That would also solve the problem of the siblings disappearing until the reveal.

It would be easy enough to accomplish considering that Ren and Kyoko had already discussed the siblings relationship to their parents. Apparently Cain and Setsu had run away from home when their parents had been away on a business trip. Who's to say that the parents couldn't find their children. After hearing about such an incident they would come running.

"I have a plan, but you will not go tonight. I think that they need each other right now and everyone has to calm down. Tomorrow when they go to the set you will go to them." After saying that he picked up his phone and made a call to tell the director of Tragic Marker his plan.

* * *

" _Why didn't you protect me Corn?" she said._

" _I tried. I'm so sorry. Forgive me._ "

"Forgive me," Ren said.

Kyoko shook the man away scared by the pleading in his voice and the fact that he was crying in his sleep,

Ren woke up startled. His eyes connected with Kyoko's and he held her so tightly that it almost hurt.

"It's time to get up," Kyoko said.

"For what?"

"The last shoot for the movie."

Ren looked at her as though she had lost all of her sense. You're sick and after what happened yesterday-"

"We will be professionals and finish the jobs we have taken. You are right. I don't feel well and I am still shaken by what happened yesterday, but I can't let that stop me and I won't let it stop you." Kyoko knew that they were going to have to discuss what had happened. Frankly, she was still scared by what had happened and she felt the that her current calm was a mixture of shock and the fever that she had, but she was going to use that calm to finish the job that she had accepted. She channeled Setsuka before she spoke again. "Now get up and get dressed or I will call dad," she said with an expression that showed that it was not an idle threat,.

Cain responded to that by getting up. He looked at her for a minute to steady himself and then he went to go get dressed. For the siblings it was likely that they would never see their parents again. When they had come up with the background of the siblings they had decided that they had run away from home.

They had grown up in America and their parents often went on business trips. They were more 'normal' then. Close, but not bordering on incestuous like they were now. One day after school Cain had went home without Setsuka because he was mad at her. It happened from time to time, but Setsu didn't return until after the sun was down and it was obvious that she had been assaulted, Cain felt that it was his fault since he was supposed to look after his sister especially when their parents were away and Setsu couldn't stand to face either of their parents because she felt dirty and ashamed of herself. Together Setsu and Cain ran away, getting those names after they reached Japan. Setsu felt that Cain was the only man that wouldn't hurt her and Cain spoiled her out of guilt for not being there when she needed him the most. Contact with their parents would mean telling them everything that both of them had run from.

That was the history that they had made for themselves. It was something between the two of them to help build their characters.

Everyone seemed shocked that the siblings showed up for the next day of shooting. Between takes Cain literally held Setsuka unable to bare a moment more than the necessary separation. Setsuka, didn't seem to mind at all if her smile said anything about how she felt.

That was the perception that outsiders had. What was really occurring was Ren breaking character. It was impossible for him to stay Cain under such stress and perhaps that was a good thing because Cain would have dragged Setsu away and back to the hotel after the first shot. For Ren being able to hold Kyoko was keeping him whole. She was right they did have a job to finish and they were too close to quit now, but after all this was over he knew that he was going to shatter, He hoped that seeing him like that didn't lessen him in her eyes. He wished he could avoid it, but he was too stressed and in too much pain to hide it once he was finished being Cain Heel.

So focused where they on one another that they didn't even notice the commotion that was occurring around them until a man hugged them. There was no way that the two of them could fail to recognize Kuu even with his hair dyed and colored contacts.

"Dad," Ren whispered.

Kuu smiled for a moment and gave an almost imperceptible nod. "Cain you two worried us so much!" he exclaimed.

Julie made her presence known then. "When we heard about the accident yesterday we came rushing over. Are you alright Setsu darling?" She asked stroking Setsu's face.

To both Ren and Kyoko's credit after a brief bit of shock they adapted to the situation. Setsu blushed and hid her face away. Cain gazed down at his sister with a look of guilt on his features because he could feel her tears soaking his shirt. He felt useless and he dealt with it the only way that he knew how.

"Leave!" he ordered his parents.

Kuu was impressed with his son. He could clearly see that this was Cain reacting to his parents appearing. Apparently his children had come up with a far more painful backstory than Lory was aware of. Such a thing was a hazard when left to create a character with such vague guidelines.

"Don't you dare take such a tone with us young man!" Chizuru yelled at her son.

Kuu easily stepped back into character as Steven and spoke up. "That's it your coming home right now!" he decreed. "Come on we have a car waiting."

"But-" Cain began to protest. His scenes were over, but his parents didn't know that and what he wanted was for them to go away so that he could comfort his sister.

"Brother, I don't feel so well," Setsu said.

Steven reached out a hand to check for a fever and he was startled and hurt when Setsuka flinched away from his touch.

Kuu wonder just what kind of a story his sons had created for these siblings.

It was Setsu's admission of not feeling well that finally convinced Cain to get into the car with his parents.

* * *

The moment that the door was shut Ren discarded the character. Kyoko's fever was really high and it was his fault for going to the set. He should have made her stay at the hotel so that he could look after her. That was when he realized that she had hid how bad she was feeling for that exact reason. She wanted him to finish filming as Cain Heel and that was the only way that she knew that he would do it.

Ren pulled Kyoko nearer. Now that he was allowed to be himself, he was that much closer to breaking down, but he didn't want to do that here. Not in front of his parents and some hired driver. Though Ren could feel the gazes of his father and mother on both he and the woman that lay asleep in his arms, silence reined in the car for nearly a half hour. That marked the time that they pulled into a underground parking lot. There was more discreet than the small limo that had picked them up at the set.

"We will see both of you tomorrow," Julie said quietly.

Ren nodded and a small smile graced his features for a moment. They understood that he needed to be alone with Kyoko, but at the same time they had also wanted the chance to see for themselves that both of their children were alright in the physical sense.

Ren quickly got into the vehicle and was surprised to see that the driver was none other than Lory's dark-skinned aid, Sebastian. The man quickly drove them both to Ren's apartment. With a nod Ren exited the car and began to walk to the elevator.

"Where are we?" Kyoko asked awakened by the movement of Ren's walking.

"We are at my apartment. Kuu and Julie will see us tomorrow," he assured her, knowing that it was going to be her next question. He was surprised at how rough his voice sounded. It was as though his body knew that when he was inside his apartment the inevitable emotional torrent was set to occur.

Ren held Kyoko a bit tighter with one arm so that he could unlock the door. He kicked it shut with his foot and didn't even bother to remove his shoes. He walked directly to his bedroom and then he placed Kyoko on the bed.

"I'm sorry," he apologized.

She didn't even have time to question the apology before he was stripping off her trench coat and the tight red garment beneath it. Then all she had on the was tight black pants and her lacy black bra. Then he took his shoes off and hers as well.

"Ts- Ren-san, what-" she began with a blush that had very little to do with her fever. She didn't have time to finish before Ren had gotten into the bed to. He looked as though he was in a lot of pain and that was what halted her words.

"I want to kiss you," he said quietly.

"But I'm sick and I don't want you to get sick too," she replied.

For a minute it seemed as though he was going to argue, but then all the will he had to fight simply evaporated. He laid his head over her heart and he could hear it racing. Any other time he would have teased her. Any other time he would have looked at her and committed the sight of her half-dressed on his bed to his memory. Now, however, all he could do was listen to her heart.

In the hotel he hadn't allowed himself to cry. There were tears in his sleep, and he had nearly broken on his call to the president, but he had not allowed the full force of the emotion to take hold. The tears started slowly and the first sob was contained. The second less so and by the third there was nothing he could do, but wrap himself around Kyoko and hold on.

He cried because of what could have been. He could have lost her forever after having had only a taste of what a future with her could be.

He cried because of what he had done. There was no breakdown when Rick had died. He just changed his name and started over. Rick had been his best friend and he hadn't even mourned him as he should have.

He cried out of fear. He knew that he loved Kyoko, but would he had done the same thing that he had done when Rick was killed, had she died? He couldn't imagine that he would have been strong enough to continue living, let alone adopt a new identity, perhaps he was just that cold, once someone was dead he just moved on.

It was about that point that he felt Kyoko's hand gently moving in his hair. That at once made things better and worse. Better because it reaffirmed the fact that she was there and worse because he felt that he didn't deserve it. He didn't deserve her. He hadn't deserved Rick.

"Please calm down!" he dimly heard Kyoko plead. That was when he noticed the way that he was breathing was very close to hyperventilation. He forced himself to take a deep breath. It helped a little and his thoughts cleared a bit. It was enough to let him realized that he _had_ mourned Rick in his own way. Just because he hadn't shed as many tears didn't mean that he hadn't broken down over his friend's death. The fact that he was still haunted to this very day was proof of how deep that wound was.

That wound had started to stitch up though, and that was because of Kyoko. She held a place in his life that could never be filled by another person. She was his best friend, his good luck charm, his partner, the person that had started to reconnect him with his past, and the physical embodiment of his heart. He would do anything and everything for her.

He was vulnerable in a way that he hadn't been before Rick was killed and because of that Kyoko meant a lot more to him. This final thought allowed him to calm further. He was still crying, but the sobs had died down and he was able to loosen the hold that he had on Kyoko.

"I'm sorry," he said again.

The hand in his hair did not halt.

"Sleep," she told him. Promising silently that she would still be there when he woke up.

A gentle smile on his face, he allowed himself to rest.


	7. Comfort and Family

**A/n Sorry that this update was so long in coming. I've been working on other things, but I wanted to get to this as well. As I said before there is fluff ahead to counteract the emotional onslaught of the previous chapter. Enjoy! R and R. Thanks for the faves, follows, and reviews they make me really happy and proud that people are liking what I write.**

* * *

Ren woke to the feeling of a pair of hands shaking him. He opened one eye about halfway to see if he deemed the person shaking him worthy to wake for. It was at the moment that he saw Kyoko that the memories of what had happened flooded his mind and he couldn't help the blush that came over his features. He knew that she wouldn't tease him about what had happened, but even being aware of that didn't stop him from feeling embarrassed about the actions that he had taken when they had arrived at his apartment.

It took him a second to realize that Kyoko was squirming, trying to escape her position under him, due to the fact that he was pinning her to the bed with his body. He attributed the slow realization of that to the fact that he had just woken up. That state of just having awakened was also at fault for him not realizing that the soft sounds that he was hearing was her speaking to him. He was sure that he had missed some words because, normally, Kyoko didn't start speaking with the middle of a sentence.

"...need to get up," was what he caught. Ren frowned and considered the words; trying to understand just why Kyoko needed to move from where she was. "I have to go!" she said frantically, pushing at him again. His heart nearly stopped before he realized she didn't mean that she needed to leave the apartment.

Quick as he could he moved over on the bed and once freed she dashed off to the bathroom. Ren stretched and got out of the bed recognizing his own rather pressing need of the toilet. The alarm clock on his beside showed that it was six in the evening, that more than explained the call of nature. He was relatively certain that when they had left the set it was still morning. He was preoccupied by his thoughts and fears at the time, but based on his memory of where the sun was when they we getting into the vehicle, he figured that it been late morning or early afternoon. So they had been asleep for at least five hours if not a full six.

When he heard the flush of the toilet, he made his way to the bathroom door. A few seconds later Kyoko emerged and Ren couldn't help taking a moment to stare. Somehow he had forgotten her state of undress. While he had not been in the mindset to appreciate it before, due to his emotional breakdown, he could now. Most of her upper body was on full display and the lacy black bra did little to conserve her modesty. Her legs were still covered with the pants and he idly wondered if her panties matched the bra.

Moments later his gaze snapped to her face and he blushed. They had discussed the future and eventually they would get to a place where she was comfortable with his admiring gazes and physical intimacy. Unfortunately, that time was not right now.

It took him a second to realize that she had not gotten flustered or ran away. She was blushing, but she looked like she was struggling against laughter. He found out why soon enough when his bladder reminded him that it needed emptying. While his mind had been distracted his bladder hadn't and he became aware that he had been shifting from foot to foot and clutching his pants in a rather immature rendition of the potty dance.

'Well here is something else that I will never live down,' he thought as he dashed into the bathroom. Well the one good thing that came from the situation was that the need to urinate was strong enough to prevent a rather noticeable sign of attraction. She hadn't vanished when he had checked her out, but he wasn't sure how she would have responded if she had seen him like that and it would have been infinitely more difficult to calm down enough to relieve himself.

When he finished and had washed his hands, he stared at the closed door wondering how to face Kyoko. In the space of about a forth of a day he had done quite a few things that deeply embarrassed him. With a soft thump his head connected with the door. Well he couldn't stay in the bathroom all day, that was a certainty. Also he was wasting time, they had the rest of the day together since neither of them had jobs since they were supposed to be the siblings for the day.

Ren opened the door and walked out with all the intensity of one expecting to face the guillotine. What he found instead was so opposite to his expectation that he was surprised that he didn't suffer whiplash. Kyoko was in the kitchen cooking, she had removed the Setsu wig and was dressed in a pair of modest shorts that were peeking from underneath a shirt that was his.

Ren simply stood there as she made the eggs and buttered the toast. When she turned around he saw her blush. "I'm sorry for taking one of your shirts without permission," she said quietly. "I didn't have a spare in my bag and I didn't want to put back on the Setsu outfit, but I-"

That was the moment that he cut her off. "No, Kyoko-chan, it's perfectly fine for you to use my things. Anything here that you want or need is yours including my wardrobe." His words were polite, but his eyes were committing her image to memory. The pure sight of her in his clothing was, in a way, more intimate and seductive than her Setsu attire. It also help that the shirt was a jersey that he had gotten as a gift from a photo shoot several years ago. He had never been happier for that specific article of clothing. He wondered if he would be able to convince her to use it as a night shirt when she stayed over.

Kyoko was happy that Ren was not mad at her for borrowing his shirt. In fac,t she would say that he was pleased to see her in it. She turned from him to set the table so that she could hide her smile. Ren needed something to be happy about and she thanked whatever deity had allowed a jersey to be the smallest top in Ren's closet. Kyoko was going to have to be sure to tell Kanae about what had happened since it was that very girl whose advice Kyoko had acted on.

* * *

"Oh one more thing," Kanae had said the day that she had cornered Kyoko in the LoveMe room. "If you want and or need to cheer Tsuruga up, try wearing one of his shirts. If possible a jersey of some sort. Don't ask though."

"But Moko-san, I can't inconvenience Ren-san like that," Kyoko said with a blush at the very notion. "It would be very rude and inconsiderate for me to do something like that!"

"It won't inconvenience him one bit, trust me." Kanae said with an almost scary smile and then the girl let out a rather sinister chuckle. After a jaunty wave she left a rather puzzled Kyoko behind in the LoveMe locker room.

* * *

After seeing how embarrassed Ren was about the things that had happened she had gone into his room to put on a shirt and had remembered Kanae's advice. Then she decided to make a light meal with the food available in Ren's kitchen. There was an appalling lack of food so she made do with some eggs and bread.

For a moment she feared that she had made a mistake following her friend's advice, but Ren's reaction had shown her that it was not a bad thing to do and doing it had given him something other than his embarrassment to concentrate on.

They had just finished their meal in companionable silence, on Kyoko's part, and suppressing new fantasies, on Ren's part, when the door bell rang. Ren got up to see who was at the door and found both Kuu and Julie there was several bags and suitcases.

"You're moving in?" he asked as he let them both inside.

Kuu shook his head. "The director of _Tragic Marker_ had the hotel room packed up for you. Lory was going to send Sebastian, but we asked to be allowed to deliver the bags so that we could see that the two of you were alright."

Ren suddenly found himself unable to look at Kuu and Julie. "Things are better, but it's going to take some time until the fear starts to leave." Already he was dreading the start of a new day. Kyoko had her jobs and he had his. The whole time that they were apart he would be afraid that something would happen to her and that he was lose her. It was almost debilitating and the only thing that kept him from curling into a ball and becoming despondent was the fact that it would hurt and worry Kyoko and all the others that were close to him.

A stuttering sound behind him caused Ren to turn around. Kyoko was standing there blushing redder than he had ever seen and stuttering a word that sounded like father. Kuu practically teleported over to her and held her tightly. Kyoko looked surprised for a moment and Ren could see tears forming in her eyes, then she submitted and hugged Kuu back, looking smaller as she embraced the man.

"We were so worried," Julie whispered as she watched the hug. Ren could see that she was barely retraining herself from hugging him in the same way that Kuu was to Kyoko.

Ren embraced her and held her as she cried both because she was hugging her son for the first time in years and because her son and the woman that was so close to both her son and her husband were safe. When Julie pulled away she looked over and found herself watched by both Kyoko and Kuu. There was a slight scowl on Kyoko's face and she feared that she had done something to upset the girl. Was she not aware of her relationship to Ren?

Ren saw Kyoko's scowl as well and walked the few steps over to where she stood. "Kyoko-chan is something wrong?"

"It's not fair," she mumbled.

"What's not fair?" he asked reaching for her hand, although, he was still puzzled.

She pulled away from him and pointed at Kuu, then Julie, and finally at Ren. "None of you are human. I always though Corn was a fairy and now I'm sure that he is. That is the only way to explain how all three of you can cry and look so worried and still look picture perfect and ready to walk the runway. Normal people can't do that!" she concluded.

For a moment there was complete silence in the apartment. Then Ren, Julie, and Kuu looked around at one another and began to laugh. Julie walked over to Kyoko and ruffled her hair. "You are so adorable," the woman said as she hugged the girl.

"Stop hogging my daughter all to yourself," Kuu said with all the petulance of a child that has had a favorite toy taken by another child. "I know that she is so cute that she is irresistible, but she was mine first." he said with a pout.

Ren cleared his throat. "Dad, please stop acting like a child. You got your hug and now mom is getting hers. Anyway, when all is said and done I am the one she cares about the most. Right Kyoko-chan?" he said with the true smile that made Kyoko feel like she had swallowed a mouthful of warm honey. This of course only served to fluster her more and he was sure that she would have been running about the apartment bopping herself on the head if Julie had relinquished the hold that she still had on her.

"You're so mean Ren-san," Kyoko pouted when she had calmed down a little.

"Yeah you are really mean, my idiot son," Kuu agreed with a huge smile. Then he proceeded to give said son a noogie. This, of course, led to a bout of play wrestling. Kyoko giggled as she watched the spectacle of two grown men, father and son, wrestle like school children. Julie pulled Kyoko to her so that Kyoko's back was against her front. "They are idiots," the woman said fondly.

"Yes," Kyoko agreed softly.

"Thank you for bringing him back to us," Julie said.

Kyoko looked away from the men to gaze at her shoulder shoulder where Julie was resting her head.

"He communicated with us for the first time in years and he mentioned that you were part of the reason that he was able to do it. He loves you and Kuu does too. I'm sure that it won't be long until I am in the same boat with them. I meant what I said I am grateful that you brought him back to us and that you really are adorable." Julie seemed to pause for a moment before deciding to add to what she had said. "Also, I would very much enjoy it if you would call me 'mom' or some variation of it. Kuu told me about the glimpses that he had gotten into the life that you had with your mother and I would very much like to take on the honor that she threw away,"

"Really?" Kyoko asked so softly that it was quieter than a whisper.

Julie had to rein in the anger she felt that a mother would let her child get to a point that the child reacted with such disbelief to the idea that people could care. "Of course I meant it." she said softly holding the girl a little tighter.

Kyoko closed her eyes and ignored the tears that escaped the closed lids. She couldn't believe it. She had a family, these wonderful people and so many others cared about her and she was sure that he heart would burst from all the happiness. Somehow she didn't notice that Julie had, at some point, led her to the sofa and pulled her so that she was laying on the piece of furniture with her head in the lap of the other woman. "Sleep well," she heard and then she was asleep.

After he finished wrestling his old man Ren walked over to where his mother and Kyoko were on the couch. "Hey," he began in a normal volume of voice only to be shushed by his mother. That was when he saw that Kyoko was asleep. He frowned, she couldn't be tired, after all, they had gotten quite a bit of sleep a little while ago. Unless... "She wasn't asleep," he mumbled. When he had woken up, both in the hotel and in his bed, she was already awake. What if she hadn't slept at all and had instead spent the time watching over him? He was sure she had rested a bit at the hotel, but it couldn't have been restful since it was only a little while after the accident had occurred. Ren had no such assurances that she had rested when they had lain in his bed together,

"I don't deserve her," he sighed as he gently touched her face.

"Probably not, but the question is do you love her?" his mother said.

"More than I ever thought possible," he answered truthfully.

"Then I think the both of you will be just fine."

Ren smiled at his mother. It might be a few years before he could publicly announce to the world who his parents were, but the distance that he had put between himself and them would be erased. He missed his parents and he had a lot of apologizing to do for the grief that he had put them through. For now though, for this moment, he would treasure the feeling of the four of them in the same space. The past made a person, but a future, that was fought for, had the power to reshape a person. His past had made him into Tsuruga Ren and he had let it define him. Now, he had hope and love and he would use that to reshape himself as well as his future.


End file.
